NEW YORK/WASHINGTON, June 30 (Reuters) - French bank BNP
Paribas on Monday agreed to pay almost $9 billion over
charges it violated U.S. sanctions against countries such as
Sudan, and faces a one-year suspension of parts of its U.S.
dollar-clearing business.

The bank also pleaded guilty to two criminal charges. The
bank's general counsel, Georges Dirani, briefly appeared in New
York state court to plead guilty to one count of falsifying
business records and one count of conspiracy.

U.S. authorities found that BNP Paribas had evaded sanctions
against a range of black-listed countries, in part by stripping
information from wire transfers so they could pass through the
U.S. system without raising red flags.

"Through a series of egregious schemes to evade detection
and with the knowledge of multiple senior executives, BNP
employees concealed more than $190 billion in transactions
between 2002 and 2012," the New York State regulator, headed by
Benjamin Lawsky, said in a press release.

No individuals were charged on Monday, but U.S. authorities
said they have not wrapped up their probes.

"The case which BNP is pleading to now is against the
corporation alone, but our investigation into potential
individual culpability is continuing," Manhattan District
Attorney Cyrus Vance said in an interview on Monday.

BNP laid out the terms of the $8.97 billion deal in a
statement. "We deeply regret the past misconduct that led to
this settlement," BNP CEO Jean-Laurent Bonnafe said.
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